A Writer’s Resolutions: 2014 Edition

Last year, I wrote a post about resolutions. This year, I’ve decided to continue that tradition and start an annual feature where I’ll detail my goals for the coming year, and look back on what I accomplished (or didn’t, more likely) from the previous list. I’m not talking about the usual suspects — the “I want to lose weight” (although, that is high on my list this year), “I want to be debt free” (a girl can dream right?), “I want to marry a prince and live on a floating island in the clouds” type of resolutions. No, I’m talking about the specific list that all writers make.

If you write, chances are this one features prominently: “I want to be published”. But like I pointed out in last year’s post, that has about as much chance of success as marrying that prince with the floating island. You need to be more specific than that. When you break a resolution into the individual steps you’ll need to accomplish it, it starts to look more real. To prove a point, I tried my own advice and created these resolutions for 2013:

How did I stack up? Well, I didn’t. According to that list, I accomplished exactly . . . nothing. Unmoving still isn’t finished (in fact, I technically haven’t written on it since July), it’s not featured on Wattpad or Authonomy (yet), my short stories languish somewhere in forgotten-land, and the only new thing I wrote was 1/16th of a novel that’s probably the worst quality ever thanks to Camp Nano. But that doesn’t mean the resolutions themselves were bad. It just means that I suck at following my own advice. 😉

2013 was actually riddled with writing-related achievements, they just weren’t the ones I expected. I’m now the Editorial Director for REUTS Publications; I’ve reviewed so many amazing (and unpublished) manuscripts I’ve lost count; I’ve been involved in numerous writing contests, Twitter events, and saw a couple of the books I helped edit reach publication; I’ve made invaluable connections with others in the industry, many of whom I now view as friends; and most importantly, I created a way to share Unmoving while it’s still being written! So 2013 was by no means a dull year on the creativity front. In fact, I think it was the busiest I’ve ever been. And I loved every minute of it!

Where does that leave me as we head into 2014? Optimistic as always. The new year sparkles with possibility, and I’m nothing if not superb at creating to-do lists. (It’s the finishing them part I’m not so great at.) So, in true New Year’s fashion, here’s my ambitious list for the coming year:

Writing Resolutions 2014

Finish Unmoving (Kind of inevitable now, since I have a bi-weekly deadline to keep my hiney motivated.)

Compile brief synopses of all plot bunnies (I really need to get this one done. Some of those little buggers are starting to escape!)

Write, Edit & Publish one new short story (Really not sure why I failed at this one. It’s not an insanely difficult thing to do . . .)

Quit The Dreaded Day Job so I can focus on editing & writing full time (Probably not likely, but I’m shooting for the stars. They say if you write it down, it’ll happen. So hear that, writing gods? Make it happen!)

There’s a plethora of other things I could add to that list, but then I’d start straying from the realistic goals to the ones I know I’ll never complete. 5 seems to be a comfortable level of possible for me, anything beyond that and I may as well crumple the whole thing up and chuck it now. I’d love to say that I’ll finish more than one novel, that I’ll write a new short story every week, or that I’ll manage to do any of the other things full-time writers do. But the reality is that none of that can happen until I achieve resolution #5. Thankfully, I do see that happening in my near future, thanks to the support of my freelance clients (you guys rock!) and my work with REUTS. Will it happen this year, though? That remains to be seen. 😉

Okay, it’s your turn! What feat of writing greatness do you want to accomplish this year? And how did you do with your resolutions from last?

(P.S. Thank you to everyone who entered my 2013 Holiday Giveaway. Your support made it, by far, the most successful giveaway I’ve ever done. Unfortunately, there can only be 3 winners though. So please give a big round of congratulations to those lucky people: Alexandra Perchanidou, Carly Drake, & Rachel Oestreich! You’ll be receiving a paperback copy of Echoes of Balance by Cally Ryanne. To everyone else, don’t worry, there will be more chances to win something awesome coming May 2014. So stick around! I’ll try to make it worth your while. 😉 )

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4 thoughts on “A Writer’s Resolutions: 2014 Edition”

You accomplished a lot! Good for you! I haven’t made resolutions yet this year but did manage to submit as much as I had hoped last year and feel good about that. You have inspired me to line up all of my writing projects and see what I need to do. Thank you!

That is a good point. I had to scale back the number of blogs I follow too. So much good information out there, but it got to the point where I was spending the majority of my time reading. Now I only follow a few of my favorites (yours is on that list) and the rest I’ll throw in a folder for later.

Good luck beating the procrastination monster! I’m still waiting to see your infamous novel. 😉